Through the Iron Bars eBook

In his inaugural speech, the Governor exclaimed, “The
God of War, with his drawn sword, has held the new
institution at the font. May the God of Peace
be gracious to her for long years to come.”
The Germans’ lack of humour surpasses even their
ruthlessness. With one hand General von Bissing
was baptizing the baby—­rather a difficult
operation—­with the other he brandished
his fiery sword over the heads of all the true Flemings
who refused to adopt it. Many of them paid for
this patriotic attitude by losing their liberty.
With one hand Germany inflicted this unwelcome gift
on the Flemings, with the other she banished M.M.
Pirenne, Fredericq and Verhaegen from the sacred precincts
of Flemish culture!

Most solemnly, on different occasions, all the prominent
Flemish leaders have protested against the German
Administration’s action. They have declared
that it was illegal and unjust. Governor von Bissing
reminds them that, according to De Raet’s words,
“Two heroic spirits dominate the world:
The Mind and the Sword.” They may possess
the first but he holds the second.

IV.

THE SACKING OF BELGIUM.

There is one idea which dominates the Belgian tragedy:
“The body may be conquered, the soul remains
free.” These words were uttered for the
first time, I believe, by the Belgian Premier, Baron
de Broqueville, in the solemn sitting of the House,
when the German violation of Belgian neutrality was
announced to the representatives of the people.
The idea is supposed to have been expressed by King
Albert, in another form, before the evacuation of
Antwerp. It was used to great effect in one of
the most popular cartoons published by Punch,
in which the Kaiser says to the King, with a sneer,
“You have lost everything,” and the King
replies, “Not my soul.” It is so intimately
associated with the Belgian cause that the image of
the stricken country is scarcely ever evoked without
an allusion being made to it.

We have seen, in the course of the earlier chapters,
how Belgium succeeded in preserving her loyalty and
patriotism in spite of the most ruthless oppression
and the most cunning calumnies. We must now look
at the darker side of the picture and see how she
has not succeeded in preserving either her prosperity,
or even her supply of daily bread.

We shall soon be confronted with the most tragic aspect
of her Calvary. So long as her armies were fighting
the invader, so long as her towns and countryside
were ruined by German frightfulness, so long as her
martyrs, men, women and children, were falling side
by side in the market-place before the firing party,
so long as every symbol, every word of patriotism
was forbidden her, Belgium could remain vanquished
but unconquered, bleeding but unshakeable. She
enjoyed, in the face of her oppressors, all the privileges
of the Christian martyrs of the first centuries; she
could smile on the rack, laugh under the whip and
sing in the flames. She remained free in her prison,
free to respect Justice, in the midst of injustice,
to treasure Righteousness, in spite of falsehood,
to worship her Saints, in the face of calumny.
She was still able to resist, to oppose, every day
and at every turn, her patience to the enemy’s
threats and her cheerfulness to his ominous scowl.
She had a clear conscience and her hands were clean.